Daniel Russel, President Barack Obama’s diplomatic point man for East Asia, said it was difficult to determine what China’s intentions might be, but Russia’s annexation of Crimea had heightened concerns among U.S. allies in the region about the possibility of China using force to pursue its claims.

“The net effect is to put more pressure on China to demonstrate that it remains committed to the peaceful resolution of the problems,” Russel, the U.S. assistant secretary of state for East Asia, told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Russel said the retaliatory sanctions imposed on Russia by the United States, the European Union and others should have a “chilling effect on anyone in China who might contemplate the Crimea annexation as a model.”

[…] Russel added that while the United States did not take a position on rival territorial claims in East Asia, China should be in no doubt about Washington’s resolve to defend its allies if necessary. [Source]

The rivalry between China and the Philippines is bitter and potentially dangerous, with frequent face-offs at sea over the disputed islands and rocks. It is not hard to imagine incidents spiraling out of control. In the latest episode, a Philippine vessel on Saturday outmaneuvered the Chinese Coast Guard and resupplied a ship that has been stranded for 15 years on a tiny reef called the Second Thomas Shoal. The Philippines intentionally grounded the vessel in 1999 to stake claim to the reef, and it has since served as, effectively, a military outpost. The Chinese ships were trying to block a delivery of fresh food and troops from reaching it.

The Second Thomas Shoal is at the heart of the legal brief filed with the Permanent Court of Arbitration. It argues that the Shoal, known as Ayungin in the Philippines and Ren’ai Reef in China, is 105 nautical miles from the Philippines, well inside the 200 nautical miles of an exclusive economic zone that allows the Philippines to control and exploit the waters around the shoal under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. A ruling is expected sometime next year. [Source]